The biting winds cascaded down the mountain slopes, cutting through Iyo and Ajax’s cloaks like they were nothing. The pair had long ago crossed over from the gentle, rolling Iron Foothills, into the steep, wintery slopes of the Snowglades. The campfire between them rippled wildly, then blazed upward with renewed vigor.

“We never should have stayed in the Crossing that long,” Iyo mumbled. “We could’ve at least made it to the highlands by nightfall.”

Ajaxan turned to the thieflord. “I think it’s important we heard out all of the Captain’s grievances. If what he says is true--”

“Oh, Bronson’s a blathering idiot and you know it. So the Vantians raided a few fishing villages… he acts like Eastwind’s marching on the Crossing.”

The prophet turned a concerned eye to his companion. “I fear your time in Eastwind has… desensitized you to their disregard for civil diplomacy, Iyo.”

“Disregard?” Iyo scoffed. “They’re adhering to a decades-old treaty that absolutely cripples them! If that isn’t the definition of civil diplomacy, then I don’t--”

Quiet. Listen…

The Shadknife had echoed the words into Iyo’s mind, but both Elders heard it. Ajax waved a hand near the roaring campfire, shrinking the light from the flame to nearly nothing. Through the winds whipping over the nearby slope came a handful of gruff voices in the distance. The Naurulians made their way up the adjacent snowdrift to catch a glimpse of the source.

In the valley below, a hunting party made its way northwest. Adorned in stalker pelts and carrying acaia bows, the half-dozen hunters carried between them a seventh figure… smaller in stature, head bound in a leather hood. The figure squirmed against his captors, shouting something indecipherable under the thick leather.

One of the men delivered a swift kick to the prisoner’s side to silence him. “Shut yer mouth, dwarf, or we’ll start takin’ fingers…”

Behind the cover of the snowdrift above, Iyo turned to his companion. “Those are Dunsmoor hunters… and they have a Valderkal.”

Ajax sighed deeply, peering down on the hunting party with a look of disappointment. He turned back towards their campsite and doused the remaining flame with a wave of his hand. “I suppose we’ll be traveling a bit more tonight, then…”

***

Several hours passed, as the Naurulians followed the hunters from a distance. Eventually they crossed over to the north side of the mountain range that peered out over the frozen sea. Miles ahead, the lights of a small fishing settlement along the northern coast reflected off the ice floes. Beyond it lay the edge of the Ice Forest, its frozen beaches sprawling westward.

Iyo pulled his cloak tighter around his shoulders. “Didn’t think the Dunsmoor did so well in the snow…”

“What are they doing this far north?” Ajaxan pondered aloud.

“Besides kidnapping a dwarf? Probably not planning anything nice once they get to that fishing village, I’d say.”

“Let’s not jump to conclusions…”

Iyo laughed aloud. “I think your time with the Purelakers has made you a little daft.”

The prophet didn’t respond to this - he merely hoisted his staff out of the snowdrift beneath them and pressed onward.

Within the hour, they had tracked the hunters to the tiny coastal settlement. The Dunsmoor had dragged their captive inside the largest of the rattling spruce shacks, but the Elders held back, scouting the area around the encampment. A small fishing ship pulled against the ropes that tethered it to the dock, as the icy waves rocked it back and forth. Nearby, another wooden shack creaked against the assailing winds, its open door slamming against the boards.

Iyo and Ajax crept to the door, peering inside the darkened shack. The thieflord drew the Shadknife as he stepped inside, slowly taking in the gruesome scene before them. A wooden table sat at the center of the cabin’s single room - and beside it, the bodies of the cabin’s two occupants, their throats cut in two clean lines that had long ago bled out and dried.

“Or maybe something more coordinated…” Iyo responded, as he peered down into an open crate near the corner of the room. Inside, lay a handful of bloodstained Vantian goldblades. He turned back to the prophet. “I can’t imagine the Vantians would be transporting their own weapons in birch crates… nor less leave them unattended.”

“A setup…” Ajaxan’s brow furrowed... but their attention was quickly averted by a muffled cry of pain from inside the large building. The Naurulians hurried back outside, making their way to the door of the shack, where gruff voices began to come into focus amidst the cries of pain.

“...the entrance to the Tunnels, dwarf! Where is it!?”

Iyo couldn’t make out the response, but it seemed to anger the hunters, drawing another muffled cry of pain from their prisoner. The thieflord turned his ear to the wall, listening for the sounds of mumbling and shuffling inside, then turned back to flash a series of hand signals to Ajax - two left, three center, one right - before reeling back and delivering a swift kick to the wooden door.

Startled, the Dunsmoor spun around to see the two Naurulians standing in the open doorway. Arrows were nocked almost instantly, but by the time the first had barely left its bow, Ajaxan had raised the Eye of the Prophet high above his head before driving it straight down. As the bottom of the staff struck the floor, a shockwave rippled out across the room, sending the hunters crashing against the far walls. The hooded prisoner who sat bound to a chair near the center of the room was sent tumbling to the ground, howling in pain.

“Kairos’ sake, shoot the bastards!” shouted the first to get back on his feet… but with a wave of the prophet’s hand, an iron cooking pot flew across the room and smashed into the Dunsmoor’s head with startling force, quickly silencing him.

By the time the other hunters had recovered, Iyo had made short work of two more. The hunter nearest Ajax had thrown her acaia bow to the ground in favor of a pair of long machetes, which the prophet parried with the edge of his staff. But as her swings grew in intensity, Ajax felt himself being pressed backward towards the wall. Sidestepping a blow aimed for his neck, the prophet swung the base of his staff upwards, connecting with the Dunsmoor’s jaw and sending her flying back to the ground in a hail of broken teeth.

Out of breath, Ajaxan turned to see Iyo drawing his sword from the chest of another assailant. Then he saw him… behind the thieflord, the last remaining hunter stood, arrow nocked and aimed directly between Iyo’s shoulder blades.

“HEY-” was all Ajaxan had time to shout before the arrow left the bow. Without a second thought, he threw a hand up, sending the thieflord flying. As Iyo lifted off the ground, the arrow grazed his arm near the shoulder, ripping through fabric and sailing past its intended target.

Ajax strode toward the stunned archer, raising his staff to defend against the impending retaliation. But before the hunter managed to pull the next arrow from his quiver, the blade of the Shadknife burst out of the front of his chest, ripping through the thick hide armor as it drank.

A gargled murmur drew their attention back to the center of the room. The arrow that had nearly killed the thieflord had flown past, punching through the side of the Valderkal’s neck. Still bound to the chair, toppled sideways on the floor of the shack, the Naurulians watched as the dwarf slowly stopped moving; the terrified sounds emanating from beneath the leather hood finally fading into silence.

***

By the time they had finished burying the dead just outside the village, the sky had begun to take on the bright blue glow of the dawn light. Without a word between them, Iyo and Ajax approached the small fishing ship and loaded their supplies onto it. As Ajax hoisted the last of their belongings - the birch crate of Vantian weapons - onto the deck of the ship, Iyo untied the rope from the dock and jumped aboard to take hold of the mainsheet.

Soon, the two Elders were sailing northeast along the coast, finally bound for the Yukrovian Summit as the morning sun painted the icy cliffs ahead.

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Atlas is an immersive MC experience like no other. A custom nation creation system, mixed with the rich backstory and quest progression of an MMORPG, make for a world that MC players of any style can enjoy!